Head & Spinal Injury

Manage suspected head or spinal injury in a child by keeping the child completely still, calling 101 immediately, stabilising the head and neck, controlling any scalp bleeding, and monitoring continuously until MDA arrives. Apply when: A child who has sustained or may have sustained a head or spinal injury from any mechanism including: falls from height exceeding 1 metre (or more than twice the child's height), motor vehicle accidents, bicycle or scooter crashes, falls from playground equipment, being struck by a heavy object, blast or shrapnel exposure, any fall onto a hard surface with direct head impact in an infant under 1 year, or any penetrating head wound. Also apply when a child after trauma shows: loss of consciousness (even briefly), seizures, repeated vomiting, unequal pupils, altered behaviour (confusion, irritability, excessive drowsiness), clear fluid or blood from nose or ears, weakness or inability to move a limb, neck or back pain, tingling or numbness, or bulging fontanelle in infants.